1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic mail system for sending/receiving an electronic mail via communication lines and a computer readable recording medium storing an electronic mail control program.
2. Description of Related Art
As a conventional electronic mail system, there has been one which allows to readily discriminate a sender of a mail by mail receiving means for receiving a mail and for sorting the received mail by address to store in a box of recording means and by sender managing means for sorting the mail sorted by address further by sender in the box as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 8-194654(1996).
However, the above-mentioned conventional electronic mail system has a problem in that, since it only distributes all of the received mails to file boxes by sender, the user has to sort the mails again after confirming the contents thereof when the user wants to sort only mails which need to be kept among the already-read received mails and already-sent mails.
Further, the above-mentioned conventional electronic mail system has had another problem in that, because there exist the file boxes of all of the received mails by sender, it is difficult to set a mail box for keeping only mails from a specific person or to set a mail box for pigeonholing mails sent by that person.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic mail system capable of readily sorting electronic mails.
The invention provides an electronic mail system comprising mail creating means for creating a mail; mail sending means for sending the created mail; mail receiving means for receiving a mail; mail displaying means for displaying the received mail; already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails; received mail storage means for storing received mails; setting means for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage means by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage means by name or address; instructing means for instructing to store the already-sent mail or the already-read received mail in the first or the second storage area set by the setting means; and storage means for storing the already-sent mail or the already-read received mail in the first or the second storage area in response to the instruction of the instructing means.
According to the invention, the electronic mail system can store the already-sent mail or the already-read received mail in the storage area by setting the storage area by name or address and by exchanging the mail with the person of the name or the address. Thereby, the electronic mail system allows to readily sort the electronic mails which need to be kept.
The invention provides an electronic mail system comprising mail creating means for creating a mail; mail sending means for sending the created mail; mail receiving means for receiving a mail; mail displaying means for displaying the received mail; already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails; received mail storage means for storing received mails; setting means for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage means by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage means by name or address; and storage means for automatically storing the already-sent mails among all of the created mails or the already-read mails among received mails in the first or second storage area set by the setting means.
According to the invention, the electronic mail system can set the storage area by name or address and automatically store such mails among all the already-sent mails or the already-read received mails that have storage areas for destination names or addresses, by name or address in the storage areas. Thereby, the electronic mail system allows to readily sort the electronic mails.
In the invention it is preferable that the electronic mail system further comprises area display means for indicating that there exists the storage area for storing the already-sent mail by name or address set by the setting means or the storage area for storing the already-read received mail by name or address.
According to the invention, the electronic mail system displays data which indicates that the storage area set by the setting means exists. Thereby, the user of the electronic mail system can readily recognize whether or not the storage area has been set.
In the invention it is preferable that the electronic mail system further comprises additional setting means for setting a third storage area for storing already-sent mails by name or address with respect to the names or addresses of the already-read received mails stored in the second storage area and a fourth storage area for storing already-read received mails by name or address with respect to the names or addresses of the already-sent mails stored in the first storage area, within the already-sent mail storage means and the received mail storage means, respectively, and the first through fourth storage areas set in the past are held.
According to the invention, the electronic mail system can hold the storage areas set in the past as they are without changing them in setting the additional storage area.
The invention provides a computer readable medium storing an electronic mail control program for causing a computer to control sending/receiving of mails, the computer comprising already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails, and received mail storage means for storing received mails, the electronic mail control program causing the computer to perform a process for creating a mail, a process for sending the created mail, a process for receiving a mail, a process for displaying the received mail, a process for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage means by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage means by name or address, a process for instructing to store the already-sent mail in the first storage area or the already-read received mail in the second storage area, and a process for storing the already-sent mail in the first storage area or the already-read mail in the second storage area, in response to the above-mentioned instruction.
According to the fifth invention, the electronic mail control program within the medium causes the computer to perform the above-mentioned processes when it is installed and executed in the computer. As a result, the computer realizes mail creating means for creating a mail, mail receiving means for receiving a mail, mail displaying means for displaying the received mail, already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails, received mail storage means for storing received mails, setting means for setting a first or second storage area by name or address, instructing means for instructing to store the mail, and storage means for storing the already-sent mail or the already-read received mail in the first or the second storage area. Thereby, the computer can store the already-sent mail or the already-read received mail in the storage area by setting the storage area by name or address and by exchanging the mail with the person of the name or the address. Accordingly, the electronic mail system permits readily sorting the electronic mails which need to be kept.
The invention provides a computer readable medium storing an electronic mail control program for causing a computer to control mail sending/receiving of mails, the computer comprising already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails, and received mail storage means for storing received mails, the electronic mail control program causing the computer to perform a process for creating a mail; a process for sending the created mail, a process for receiving a mail, a process for displaying the received mail, a process for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage means by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage means by name or address, and a process for automatically storing the already-sent mails among the created mails in the first storage area or the already-read mails among the received mails in the second storage area.
According to the invention, the electronic mail control program within the medium causes the computer to perform the above-mentioned processes when it is installed and executed in the computer. As a result, the computer realizes mail creating means for creating a mail, mail sending means for sending the created mail, mail receiving means for receiving means for receiving a mail, mail displaying means for displaying the received mail, already-sent mail storage means for storing already-sent mails, received mail storage means for storing received mails, setting means for setting a first or second storage area by name or by address, and storage means for automatically storing the already-sent mails among the created mails or the already-read mails among the received mails or already-read received mails in the storage area by setting the storage area by name or address. Thereby, the computer permits readily sorting the electronic mails. Thereby, the computer allows to readily sort the electronic mails.
The invention provides an electronic mail system comprising a mail creating circuit for creating a mail; a mail sending unit for sending the created mail; a mail receiving unit for receiving a mail; a mail displaying unit for displaying the received mail; an already-sent mail storage unit for storing already-sent mails; a received mail storage unit for storing received mails; a setting circuit for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage unit by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage unit by name or address; an instructing circuit for instructing to store the already-sent mail in the first storage area or the already-read received mail in the second storage area which areas are set by the setting circuit; and a storage circuit for storing the already-sent mail in the first storage area or the already-read mail in the second storage area, in response to the instruction of the instructing circuit.
The invention provides an electronic mail system comprising a mail creating circuit for creating a mail; a mail sending unit for sending the created mail; a mail receiving unit for receiving a mail; a mail displaying unit for displaying the received mail; an already-sent mail storage unit for storing already-sent mails; a received mail storage unit for storing received mails; a setting circuit for setting a first storage area for storing already-sent mails within the already-sent mail storage unit by name or address or a second storage area for storing already-read received mails within the received mail storage unit by name or address; and a storage circuit for automatically storing the already-sent mails among all of the created mails or the already-read mails among the received mails in the first or second storage area set by the setting circuit.
According to the invention, the above-mentioned electronic mail system permits readily sorting the electronic mails.